Did Wilson ever have an open throat woodie?

[galain]

Pretty much all of the major manufacturers had an open throat wood composite in the 70's/80's - Prince, Head, Dunlop, PK, Yonex, Slazenger - even the non major companies had something for those who wanted the wood experience. Admittedly, not all of these companies pushed these frames as top of their range - but for the life of me I can't remember Wilson even bothering.

Can anyone help me out?

 

[movdqa]

I recall the Vilas of course but I don't recall an open throat TAD Davis model. Wilson had the Autograph line which was very successful and then they brought out the Advantage and Lady Advantage which was a change to a very fancy appearance along with the use of hardwoods (to make it stiffer?). I think that the world was moving to metals, fiberglass and graphite. I tried the Vilas but didn't really like it. I much preferred the XRC and the Head Pro which I used for a long time.

 

[Virginia]

TAD Davis had open throat (midsize) versions of the Classic, TAD (graphite composite) and Imperial and very beautiful they are too.

 

[coachrick]

We were a big Davis dealer in central South Carolina in the 70s and I remember seeing an open throat model but I don't recall ever selling one. As a racket company, Davis was falling off the radar by the latter half of the 70s(for us anyway).

Wilson had the Legacy...reinforced(boron+fibreglas) wooden hairpin with nylon/plastic throat. Mine's a beast...13oz. Not exactly a 'Vilas' in terms of appearance. I haven't hit with mine for fear that the throat would just twist out of place.

 

[movdqa]

I had moved away from Davis going more with Wilson, Dunlop, Head and Rossignol. My main dealer dropped them too so they feel off the radar screen for me.

 

[retrowagen]

I don't think they ever went down that road. They introduced a midsized Jack Kramer Pro Staff as a stopgap, but their commitment seemed to have been towards a myriad of aluminum mids and OS's and development of some stout graphite and graphite composites instead, where many of the competitors did produce midsized open-throat wood/graphite composites as transitional models circa 1977-1984...

 

[jimbo333]

It's a really good question, and amazingly I don't think Wilson made a single open throated woodie!

Interestingly, because I was brought up in the wood era of racquets, just, in the 70's. The first racquets I remember are single mono throated racquets. So when the first open throated racquets came along, it was something really new and exciting! Yes hard to believe now

So that's probably why I really like the open throated wood/graphite racquets so much

 

[vsbabolat]

Pretty much all of the major manufacturers had an open throat wood composite in the 70's/80's - Prince, Head, Dunlop, PK, Yonex, Slazenger - even the non major companies had something for those who wanted the wood experience. Admittedly, not all of these companies pushed these frames as top of their range - but for the life of me I can't remember Wilson even bothering.

Can anyone help me out?

Wilson Legacy.

 

[jimbo333]

Wilson Legacy.

That one doesn't count, as it is so weird!

 

[PBODY99]

There was Jack Kramer Mid-size wood, a single shaft wood frame.